Undertale - Not Inherently Good
by P Eibhlin
Summary: Just like humans, monsters AREN'T inherently good. Events following the monsters re-emergence unto the surface turn rapidly sour when the violent souls in both communities begin to clash, and worse, prey on the innocent. Relations are strained. Meanwhile, Frisk displays some worrying behaviour, giving Sans even more cause to worry as all evidence of resets seems to point to them.
1. Chapter 1 - The Surface

Papyrus could hardly take it all in, the view from the mountain the day they emerged, the brightness, the colours, the scale of everything before them, showing even, Alphys had mused, the curve of the Earth. It was equalled only by the sky above them, the height of the clouds over their heads and the warm, bright mass of the setting sun. And the air! How new it had been (Papyrus didn't think he had lungs, it secretly unnerved him that he had all the sensations of having them, when he thought about it. But he preferred to try and ignore it and leave the thinking to someone else). There were so many other things about that first day, but even he, the Great Papryus, found that he couldn't absorb it all, and by the end of the day, all the things he witnessed, good and bad, ended up a like a traffic jam in his mind.

The terror on their faces. It wasn't something he expected, he considered himself the friendliest and most fun-loving of all skeletons, it hadn't occurred to him that he, and his friends, were the stuff of nightmares for humans. He might even have thought about abandoning dreams of life on the surface, but that was no longer possible.

The first human he saw was unrecognisable at first, a creature speeding down a dirt road loudly seemingly with a large hard head and wheels. The man on the moped had veered his vehicle into a watery ditch on seeing the terrifying figure. He leapt away, taking off his helmet and leaving the engine running, the moped spitting up mud and dirt as it span madly on it's side. He had taken one look behind him as he sprinted away shouting in a language he didn't understand, eyes out on stalks.

'Well you've done it now.' Sans said, suddenly beside him.

'I-I' Papyrus stuttered, looking confused and defeated, looking left and right, up and down at his strange surroundings as though he'd find an answer somewhere.

Sans shrugged 'It would have gone that way no matter who approached them first... Though, running at the poor guy probably didn't help, Paps.'

Papyrus for once had nothing to say.

And so the day went. The town the man came from wasn't far from them, on the lee of the mountain. Running and screaming and shocking flight or fight reactions from both sides was the theme of the day.

Lead by Asgore, they followed the road slowly in a dream-like trance, as though they were collectively taking their first tentative steps, dust rose off the road as they went. This world didn't make sense to them, the heat of the evening, the wildlife sounds... At this point in the road, as it dipped between hills, the trees had been cleared and now made up the edge of raised fields and plots upon which housing stood. Heads could be seen rising and falling above, harvesting and tending to animals. Then, a child noticed the group. They watched the monsters, matching their pace, curious, then they ran ahead, stopped, took a few more good looks ran back through the field, out of sight.

The town was small and dusty. People gathered on chairs and tiny tables outside businesses and houses, playing cards or just fanning themselves with newspapers in the evening heat. Semi feral dogs ran around on the streets and (seemingly) semi feral children ran with them. Then the screaming started, everyone abandoned their posts, knocking things over and running into each other, the dove for cover somewhere, anywhere. Some people made poor choices and were forced out of their hiding places by their fellow humans and were made to run frantically through the now deserted street to find new ones.

Asgore hesitated and looked back at the monsters with him, some of them seemed to tremble where they stood. His eyes fell on Frisk, who gave him a little smile of encouragement. Asgore gestured for them to stand by his side. He took on a regal posture and addressed the town.

'I am Asgore, the King of Monsters.' To this he heard an eerie chorus of whispers 'Do not be afraid, we have left the Underground and wish to mend relations between humans and monsters once and for all, and live in peace again. We would like to open dialogues with your leaders, in the spirit of cooperation in order for us to proceed in a diplomatic manner.'

The voices sounded again, first in whispers, then shouts which were hushed again by whispers an drowned out again by shouting. One building in particular with a neon sign seemed to creating the most noise. It was from this place that a man marched out to finally confront them. He was larger than the first human they saw. He stopped in the middle of that dilapidated street, around 15 metres from them, a handgun in his hands. He eyed them hostilely. Asgore walked forward tentatively... He shot at the ground immediately. The sound made everyone, humans and monsters alike, jump out of their skins (or bones for those without skin). It reverberated all around the mountainous region and around the stone buildings in an echo that seemed to double itself over and over until finally it faded. The resulting reactions from King Asgore, an exclamation of 'Golly!' and orders for everyone to get back seemed to peek their interest immensely, heads popped out from all over, watching carefully. Undyne had stepped in front of the king aggressively, protectively, obviously spooked, spear in hand. All eyes were on her. Some people had even whipped out cameras and phones and were pointing them toward the new arrivals.

'Step down Undyne.'

'If they want a fight, they've got one!' she chimed, breathing heavily.

'Undyne, move aside.'

'Alright. But if they make one false move...' she said as she backed behind him.

He slowly put his hands up in order to show he meant no harm. 'If you'll allow me,' he said, looking the man in the eye 'We have with us a human ambassador, who fell into our world not long ago and freed us. Would you be willing to talk to them?'

'I am supposed to believe that? A human? Letting you _freaks_ out? How do we know that kid isn't a monster in disguise? How do we know you haven't brainwashed them... Or taken their soul?' He finally spoke, giving special weight to the last few words.

'Well we, of course we wouldn't-' He stammered, unprepared for such a pregnant question, full of assumptions and mistrust. What did humans think of monsters after so much time apart? What information had been twisted by time, what did they have wrong? And more worryingly, what did they have right?

Asgore was about to start again when Sans stepped forward, hands in his pockets 'Because-' he began, much to the dismay of the King 'The kid's human and they're perfectly capable of making their own decisions, trust me. Ask them yourself.'

He thought for a moment. 'Fine. I'll see them. But don't you freaks move an inch.'

Frisk came forward. The street yet again became alive with whispers from all directions. An equally intimidating, considerably less armed human, took his place, he stood behind her, holding his gun down, but readying himself. Things began slowly, very slowly, from there. And it would have continued that way, if not for their discovery.

'The p-portal!' Alphys out of breath voice suddenly came within hearing distance. She cleared the wooden path and ran up behind them 'The p-portal it's closing.'

The monsters gasped and began talking all at once in panicked tones, cutting off the strange relayed conversation between Frisk, Asgore and the humans of this town.

Asgore stepped forward 'We must go back and evacuate our people.'

The woman moved toward them as well, grabbing Frisk's arm roughly on her way. The child let out a little cry, to which the monsters all reacted in unison. Upon seeing this the woman spoke 'You will do no such thing.'

'Our people have been trapped long enough.'

'I believe that's up to opinion.'

For a time there was a stand-off, nobody moved except for Alphys' shaking, and the nervous little tugs she gave Asgore's robe, reminding him that they didn't have much time.

'We must go.' Asgore broke the silence.

The woman calmly took the gun from the man behind her, cocked it and slowly pointed it at the group.

'Go,' Asgore said quietly.

Nervously, the monsers and Asgore backed onto the dirt road. The King saw the human lower the gun, she didn't shoot.

Back on the mountain, everyone gathered around Alphys, watching the now irregular pulses of the gateway light her up. It felt like there was electricity in the air, it would be the feeling that the monsters who survived would come to associate with thunder and lightening storms.

The scientist looked at Undyne, feeling like somehow the warrior was trying to lend her strength 'I don't know how long we have,' she said, with utter clarity 'But I suggest, with your permission, sire, a select few people will go back, get supplies, and present a choice to the monsters in the Underground. Stay or leave'

The plan was carried out immediately, with Undyne acting as drill sergeant. Asgore entered first, and not two minutes later monsters emerged from the mountain. Papyrus looked for Sans, but he wasn't to be found. Just when he started to panic in all the chaos, there he was behind him, a ridiculously towering pile of food, medical supplies, blankets, weapons stacked against the rock face... there even seemed to be movement within the mass.

'SANS! WHERE DID YOU GET ALL OF THESE THINGS?!'

'Guess you could say I have a lot of _baggage_! C'mon, where do you think I got 'em?' He shrugged, lumping a sack of something down. He picked something out of the tower, it wobbled a bit. Papyrus stood back and flinched, but it managed to stayed upright

'Here. I brought your spaghetti.'

Papyrus looked at the large tub in his hands 'SANS! WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS?!'

'In our house.'

'NO SANS, WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS?!'

'In the fridge'

'SANS!'

Sans looked tired, his breathing was laboured, but rapidly calming down.

Papyrus breathed and started again 'BUT SANS! THERE WASN'T ANY IN THE FRIDGE, I WAS PLANNING ON MAKING IT FRESH TODAY, LIKE SPEGETTI SHOULD BE MADE! This looks suspiciously like my cooking... THIS TASTES SUSPICIOUSLY LIKE MY COOKING!'

'Ah forgetti about it Paps! We've more more important things to worry about.'

'OH YES? LIKE WHAT?' Then he added '…and I've heard that one before...'

'Like that' The smaller skeleton pointed, he returned the spaghetti to the pile and his hands to his pockets and watched.

Monsters were already pouring out of the beating portal with all the things they could carry, coming faster and faster. Within a minute some of them were starting to be thrown out and the pulsing intensified into flashing. It was clear that something was wrong, and not only that, there was chaos on the other side.

At the front stood Alphys and Undyne, Undyne in front of the scientist, protecting her from the mad jostling that was taking place. She turned to her suddenly.

'Listen up! I'm going in to help!'

'No Undyne!' Alphys said, clutching at her arm 'It's t-too d-dangerous! The portal will close any moment, and with it destabilising like that, you might be hurt!'

'Someone needs to do some crowd control in there and if there's anything I'm good at, it's pushing punks around, right? I'll be back. I promise.'

Flying back into that strange void felt like Undyne was falling for a long time, this together with the sensation of being propelled forward at great speed was deeply unnerving, but she managed to brace herself before she hit the other side. She crashed into the monsters immediate to the door. Everyone quickly picked themselves up, but stood before Undyne, unsure of what to do.

'What are you waiting for?! Go! ….LISTEN UP, ALL OF YOU! Everyone, form three lines, try to get the children and the elderly out first, don't shove or you punks will have to deal with me. Steady as we can!'

'Ooooh what drama!' Someone said in her ear while she was ushering people out.

She didn't recognise the... thing... beside her, though those boots looked like they could be used as lethal weapons and if she hadn't been trying to evacuate the whole Underground of monsters she would have asked where she could get herself a pair 'It's meeee, Mettaton! I've traaaansformed!'

'Em ok! ...Ehhh, mind giving me a hand?'

Outside Toriel found Asgore, who had recently come back through the portal, in the crowd. Putting any ill feeling aside she took hold of his shoulder. He turned around to see her serious expression. 'People are starting to get hurt, we need to lay as many soft things we can find around the entrance way.'

'Good idea.' Addressing the monsters nearest him he repeated what Toriel had just said to him. Once Asgore and Toriel began leading teams, other monsters followed suit. It was difficult not to get hurt in the thick of it, monsters being near catapulted out of the Underground with their belongings in tow. Lighter objects, and people, were being turned into projectiles.

Sans ambled awkwardly towards the gate, a pillow in his hands when something yellow flew at him at high velocity, he braced himself and held the pillow up.

'Ooof!' He was hit hard in the sternum, he stumbled back into a greater dog (he knew from the greater smell), who barely seemed to register the knock in all the excitement. Sans opened his eyes to find a small dragon like child his arms. 'Uh hi-ya little buddy. Ya almost cracked a rib there.'

'Oh boy! Wow! Thanks! You really saved my butt there! I was going really really fast like-' All of a sudden Sans saw the kids eyes widen into saucers and his little month drop open, having caught sight of the outside world. He climbed awkwardly over Sans' shoulder, awe in his expression and jumped, immediately faceplanting in the dirt. Sans turned 180 degrees, wincing. He quickly went to pick up the child but the boy righted himself and ran off into the crowd. Away from danger, hopefully, for now.

Looking up he saw that others had picked up the same idea and were bravely standing at the portal with the pillows and mattresses San's (somehow) managed to haul through, the semi-circle widened as they were pushed back. People were coming through less now. They all wondered what was happening on the other side. Then there was a change in the portal and everybody turned to look.

The flashing intensified. When Undyne looked the door looked as though it were about to implode, back and white came from both directions and met in the centre. A low hum sounded.

'QUICK! EVERYONE NOW!' Undyne shouted and the crowd obeyed, streaming out the darkness, hardly hesitating before going forward. Undyne pushed and patted the backs of the people immediate to her for encouragement. The hum suddenly turned into a rumble and the block of light ahead shook madly.

Mettaton grabbed her arm, the actor had been saying something to her but the noise was too loud. 'Gooo darling, they neeeed you on the other side.'

'I'm not leaving until every last monster is outta here!' She shouted back, annoyed at being given orders.

Mettaton seemed to have accepted this when all of a sudden she was turned rapidly around by two robot arms. The two hands settled on her back 'Tell Alphys she's one in a million. I'll never forget her.'

'No no NO!' Undyne fought, tearing at Mettaton, ripping things off, sparks flying, but the arms were too strong and before she knew it, she was speeding, far far too fast toward the light.

Undyne only saw a glimpse of the night sky before she begin skidding down the side of the mountain. The first impact had made her scream, hitting hard rock and only just managing to protect her head. Then she was rolling fast down loose stone, round and round. Recovering from the shock she dung her feet in and braced herself. She spied an edge ahead, unsure of the drop ahead she flipped around and scrambled up with all of her might, arms, legs and face being scratched to ribbons. She finally came to a stop, breathing heavily, too relieved to assess the damage just then.

Without hesitation Alphys jumped after her, skidding down with her foot, a lot more nimbly than anyone had expected. She could see Undyne ahead, jumping and rolling, feeling every impact her friend, no girlfriend, maybe, took. It was dark and Alphy's couldn't see very well. She took a few running jumps and then she saw her, lying just ahead. he hoped desperately that she would be alright.

Toriel watched as the light from the portal was suddenly snuffed out and there was only darkness, she could here, gasps, cries and whispers in the crowd. When her eyes had adjusted she found someone's lantern (goodness knows how it survived the trip) and was able to set the fixed candle inside alight. She went around, checking everybody, seeing if they were alright when something occurred to her. She hadn't seen Frisk at all through this ordeal.

She immediately called out 'Has anyone seen Frisk? Frisk? Has anyone seen them?' She pushed through the crowd with increasing franticness. 'Frisk?!'

'Ova here!' She heard a familiar voice shout.

The monsters made a clearing around Sans and Papryus and allowed Toriel to push through.

'Oh thank heavens!' Toriel sighed, upon seeing Frisk in Sans arms. Sans gave a smirk but he looked a little uneasy for some reason. He walked up to Toriel.

'Here,' he whispered, transferring Frisk carefully into the queens arms and taking her lantern.

'Frisk dear?' Toriel whispered. When she got no reply she carefully placed one hand on their face. There was dried blood there, the remnants of a nose bleed. Memories of a similar scene, a very sad time, a long time ago, occupied the forefront of her mind, she tried to shake it away 'Frisk?'

There was a little grown from the child, then they turned their head and smiled sleepily up at her. Toriel seemed to finally be able to breathe again. Sans thought her eyes had tears in them when he raised the lantern.

The crowd was clearly relieved too.

'They got hurt a lil'' Sans explained to Toriel, blushing slightly blue. He paused a moment then he cocked his head to the side, smiling 'But I think they're just tired. Big day for someone so small I guess.'

'Yes, of course.' Toriel sighed, smiling, she ruffled the child's hair and tipped her snout down, a motherly look in her eyes 'Thank you Frisk. We're free now, thanks to you.'

When Alphys reached Undyne she was lying face up. She could barely make her out in the dark.

'U-Undyne...' She said shakily, unsure what kind of state the warrior was in.

'Stars.' She heard.

'W-what? Undyne you're-!'

'Quiet punk...' There was silence for a while and then her voice came back, softer than she'd ever heard it before 'Look. Stars.'


	2. Chapter 2 - Confessions

strongHello :3 So I've used a bit of artistic license here, my own interpretation of Sans' timeline awareness is that it's based on research and gut feeling, but it still weighs heavily on him. Also I'm aware the ending cut scene shows Mettaton on the surface, but I've taken a few liberties for a little extra drama :D! You can clearly see who I ship in this chapter :3 This is supposed to be told after a failed genocide run turned pacifist run. It gets dark./strong

That night they slept (or tried, at least) on the mountain. Their hopes, dreams and fears for this world playing on their minds. They took guard duty in shifts. Papyrus volunteered for the first part of the night, being the Captain of the Royal Guard no less. It was the uncertainty of the King's body language, outlined by the few light sources the monsters managed to bring which made Undyne limp over from the corner she had found herself, feigning sleeplessness and claiming that guarding would give her something to focus on, so as not to hurt the sensitive skeleton's feelings. And with the addition of Asgore's chief scientist, who of course, had been by the injured warrior's side all night and did not intend on leaving, he was even more dubious about their safety tonight. He sighed and resolved to keep watch higher up, out of sight. Furthermore, he needed time alone to think, to process things.

The three settled in a position just at the mouth to the only clear path down the mountain, where they could see the lay of the land below them, the hills and lesser mountains very black against the starry sky. Initially, they stood, but Papyrus and Alphys soon realised that Undyne was in more pain than they she was letting on, swaying on her feet and breathing heavily. They coxed her into sitting down against the twisted truck of a tree that had managed to establish itself on what little soil there was up there. She was a lot more compliant than they had expected, which worried them.

Papyrus didn't know how to voice his concern, his mind swimming with information it could not process. He wished Sans were here, he would help him make sense of it all, but he was probably asleep somewhere. Instead he stood watch.

Alphys checked Undyne over as best she could with the little torch Toriel had given her. The ex-captains scaly skin was gashed and grazed in areas, scabs were forming there now. She seemed to have swelling on most of her joints, and more worryingly, around a deep gash high on her forehead, it was so raised it looked as though someone had slipped a little ball under her skin. She had lost her eyepatch in the fall and now there was a closed up scar there instead of an eye, no doubt having been sown up at some point. Alphys had ever seen it before, and she couldn't help but look. She turned off the light.

Undyne caught on quickly and laughed a little under her breath 'Oh this? Ha...' She hesitated for a while, as though wondering whether she should proceed, she continued 'A human did it.'

'A h-human?'

'Yeah,' she answered, reflecting 'It was a long time ago, I was still training for the Guard... Ooh I remember those days, I used to train and train and never give up! I would train until all of my muscles ached, until my hands were covered in blisters! Back then, I'd listen to stories you know, from Asgore mainly, without really understanding them... If only we collected enough human souls we could finally be free. Huh, it was only until I got to know Frisk I realised what I'd trained for for all that time... it was killing.' Here she kept her voice down, so Papryus couldn't hear 'And now it all fits together. The first human was loved by the King and Queen, and they and their son died and all the madness started. It was all about vengeance, and when the last human was dead, we hardly remembered what started it all.. I was young, too young but I don't know how I couldn't see it all... But this kid, though, the first human I ever saw. Heh, Frisk was only the second... They hurt people, killed some, and I went looking for them. I knew what I was supposed to do and I did it, but ha... it came at a cost, I lost something, I lost a few things... And I wonder now. Maybe they were just defending themselves, maybe they knew what was going to happen to them... Maybe they even had their own ideas about us, like we had of them... Today was proof that's true for the people we met today, and I think it's only the beginning... We're all scared of each other, ya know? ... What?'

Alphys was crying. Even in the dark, Undyne could tell Alphys had taken off her glasses and tears were falling freely from her eyes. She sniffed 'Undyne... I-I didn't know.' She too hesitated 'I have my own hand in all of this, I suppose. There were experiments... I picked up where the last Chief Scientist left off. I-it was frightening, but I was blinded by the idea that our freedom was of the u-utmost i-importance. He- the one who came before me- tried to understand what it was that let a human soul persist after death and he found it... And what helps them do that seems to be much more powerful than we first thought, the research led to some unexpected findings and it took my predecessor down some dark paths... G-getting there, to that understanding, it meant we needed to glean as much information about humans as we possibly could, and that meant the d-differences between us and them in life... and in death and w-whatever comes in-between. Even though the humans were long dead, we still experimented on their souls and sometimes, they still seemed... a-alive, s-somehow. And in the name of research, there were m-monsters who had fallen and who were better staying that way... but we brought them back, in a s-sense... I caused so much pain.'

Undyne breathed, she may have been crying too, but Alphys couldn't tell. Suddenly Undyne grabbed for Alphys hand, when she found it the scientist could tell that she was shaking.

'Listen up, we'll make it right, we'll start again, all of us.'

Alphys nodded, her past weighing heavily on her conscience, she was scared to face this world because of it, but now she knew Undyne was too. And then Undyne kissed her. They both let out nervous little laughs and they knew everything would be okay as long as they faced what was ahead together.

Sans couldn't sleep. He found himself between Froggit, who, unsurprisingly, snored like a motorbike and a group of strange little creatures that all called themselves Temmie who were spending the night staring at him intensely. He lay on his back, the lumpy ground grating on his bones, and reflected on things. This was new. He had never made it to the surface before. He wondered if things would be different now... A voice in his mind told him that it wouldn't last long, that it would all be over very soon and he would be back in Snowdin... but this, this was different. He held on to a fragment of hope - if they had got this far, it all may finally be over. He shelved the possibility of it having happened before for another time, it made his head hurt.

His mind buzzed. Maybe he would no longer have to relive the same day again, wondering, when his analysis had revealed the time distortions, what sick scenario he and his friends had just been put through, or what the next human, or creature with enough determination would do next. Was it possible that he would no longer live a life of futility, stuck in perceptual loops again?

Initially, he had remembered nothing after the time resets, and he had reacted to his findings (those he could remember at least) with denial. But as time went on, they became reminders that he could never truly be the master of his own destiny. Once, before Frisk fell into the underground, Sans discovered that time had been reset so many times that a few short weeks and days had been replayed to the tune of a year. Sans wondered how many times he had made that discovery before. His thoughts reeled. In his dreams his friends... his brother, turned to dust before his eyes. In his waking hours he sought answers but found none.

He was so desperate then that he did something drastic in order to gain even just a small measure of control... Barely thinking about the consequences. And, in the end, it didn't work.

Eventually it became like recalling a dream...no, harder than that, more elusive. Sometimes something would trigger an eerie sense of deju vu and he might get a glimpse into a scenario that played out differently, or imagine he did. But this was rare. So rare in fact he wondered whether these instances were purely fabricated by his tortured mind. Or maybe it was a product of the suspicion his unique situation cast on everything, having developed a skill for reading people. This was even evidenced today, when he did not recognise that creature, Flowey, Asriel reincarnate, the supposed antagonist to his personal hell...

A light came on somewhere behind and to the left of him, he looked. It was Toriel. He felt butterflies where his stomach was supposed to be. Sans had relinquished much of the control in his life a long time ago, any decisions he made, any friendships he formed may be snatched from him at any moment. Toriel had caught him off guard, and now here she was in the flesh.

This time he didn't want to sit by the sidelines, he wanted this. But, paradoxically, he was scared, because none of this felt familiar (As usual he was convincing himself of the impossible, that he _could_ have a sense of other timelines). It made him want to laugh but it was like someone had ripped his safety blanket away. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he was truly taking a step into dark. It was exhilarating and terrifying at once, he tried his best to embrace it.

He rose, shaking off dirt. The Temmies seemed excited about this and began to shake intensely (they seemed to do everything intensely) and they watched him until he was out of sight, even then, he could feel their eyes on his back.

Sans stepped over monsters 'sorry, 'cuse me. Oops, sorry buddy.'

Toriel was talking to Napstablook when Sans approached. The ghost was listing off cares, punctuated by sighs and Toriel was nodding to each one, she looked earnest but her patience seemed to be wearing a bit thin.

'Well, so it turns out Mettaton was my cousin all along. But it's nothing to be excited about, it's not a claim to fame or anything, they don't care about a ghost like me, they have a body now, not that Mettaton doesn't care about their fans, I mean, oh no...'

'Did they tell you they don't care about you?'

'Not, not directly. But after they got a new body and became famous they stopped talking to me so...'

'I see.'

'So now they're trapped underground and I'll never see them again anyway. It's tragic, I know, to want to see someone who doesn't like you.'

'Napstablook-'

'Heya Toriel,' Sans cut in, when Toriel turned around she looked relieved 'I was wonderin' if I could, eh, help with anything?'

'Oh, hello Sans,' her tone sounded odd to him 'Eh yes, if you come here with me... Can we talk again Naptablook?'

'Well, you don't have to-'

'No I want to.'

'Oh ok, well see you then...'

Toriel lead Sans to a natural alcove in the stone wall, she sat down on a rock, inviting him to do the same. She sighed 'So many people are scared about what's to come... So many of them are looking for my reassurance... but I'm just as uncertain about everything myself. I tell them that if the rest of the humans are anything like Frisk, we'll be fine.' She watched as a shiver went through Sans, she took note. Her tone changed, she smiled, relaxing and resting her head on the stone 'Where's a door and a good knock knock joke when you need one?'

'Who says we need a door?' Sans shrugged, grinning back at her.

Toriel sat up and looked nervous, she cut in before Sans had a chance to start 'Knock knock.' She said shakily.

'Who's there.' Sans replied, remembering all the time they had spent making each other laugh.

'Egg.'

'Egg who?' He thought about the hurried desperate promise she had asked him to make.

'Eggcited to meet you...?'

Sans, lost in thought, wasn't expecting this. It was like the air was knocked out of him. 'Oh heh.. Wow, um... That was baaad.'

'I know. I should be feel bad, but I don't.' She laughed loudly. She seemed to let go when she laughed, he loved it. He felt like he had got to know her through her laugh, how she laughed, what she found funny. Thinking about all of this, he found he was nervous and he couldn't help it, it had been a while since he had made an effort with someone. His emotions seemed a bit raw, and everything felt more real than it had in a long time. This was going to be hard. He gathered himself 'Knock knock.'

'Who's there?' Toriel asked, giving him her full attention. It was still strange and exciting to put a face to his voice.

'Orange.' He wanted to get to know her, he wanted this.

'Orange who?'

'...Orange you happy the two of us jokesters are here together?'

She didn't laugh but smiled, then she looked out ahead of her, at the sleeping monsters, at the stars 'I never thanked you for what you did, Sans.'

'Oh I um, that? It was nothing, really.'

'No, it was a lot of ask of you, or any monster. Especially someone with a brother aspiring toward the royal guard, had be not been as good natured as I expect he is, I suppose it would have been a betrayal of sorts, would it not? Protecting a human when all monsters believed that one last human soul was the key to their freedom... And you didn't even know me, not properly at least... I can't tell you how grateful I am that you upheld such a promise, I think we owe much of the situation in which we now find ourselves, above ground again finally, to you.'

'If you don't mind my saying, I figured, a lady who likes bad jokes as much as you do has gotta have integrity so I did it and I'm glad I did. Frisk's a good kid...' At this point he winced a little, but moved on 'Anyway, Papyrus was actually more interested in making friends with them than capturing them, he even introduced them to Undyne. Admittedly, without knowing it, Paps did most of the work for me. I kept a good eye though.' Blue and yellow magic flashed in his right eye briefly, the colours for justice and patience.

This seemed to peek her interest for a moment. Then she smiled a caring motherly smile, there was the tiniest tinge of sadness there 'It makes me so happy to hear you say that Frisk's journey through the Underground was a good one, I see there were many people looking out for them. Thank you.'

Toriel lent forward and kissed Sans on his checkbone, almost in tears because she was so happy, shaking off the niggling thought that he had something to tell her.

Asgore stood watch on a wide plateau above the sleeping monsters and his ragtag team of guardsman. This was the barren part of the mountain, exposed to the elements and largely lifeless but for a few knots of little yellow flowers and some small nocturnal predators between the grykes. The wind that whipped around his ears had long since chilled him to the point of shivering, but he still maintained a regal posture as he surveyed his too dark surroundings. He had come up here to think, but thinking had been impossible, he found himself more occupied with all the sensations of being above ground. So this was the world monsters had been shut off from so long ago. It was said to have been an act of mercy, trapping monsters underground, but to be cut off from this? He was grateful to Frisk from the bottom of his heart, not only had monsters been able to escape, both he and Frisk were alive to see it, something he hadn't thought possible. They brought them out of the underground and back into the world, there was a new era ahead of them, for both monsters and humans. He couldn't be more grateful, and fearful.

He heard a noise, something was moving around on the rocks in the dark. He heard it again, this time followed immediately by a hiss and a thump, thump, THUMP. He wheeled, searching the darkness with his keen eyes. He saw a small figure hunched over by a stone, the figure raised the rock in their hand above there head and brought it down on the rock again, when the rock made contact with the stone in was dulled, so though it were hitting something soft, like flesh. He approached cautiously. It was Frisk, and laying on the rock, dead and limp, was a long creature he recognised vaguely from a book... a snake. Frisk brought the rock down again and its flesh splayed, he could hear blood and other things, dropping off the stone. He gasped. Frisk looked up, there was something strange, and familiar, about their eyes, it immediately chilled him to the bone.

'Frisk, what are you-?' A droning sound filled the air and cut him off. Soon, there were lights shining on the mountain from huge black whirling machines above. They stirred up the strongest wind they had all ever experienced. Frisk caught Asgore's eye, backing away startled from the stone, entirely ignoring the helicopter above. They looked at the gory mess lying on the stone, shaking their head, mouth open in shock. Then they looked up suddenly, with an expression like a frightened animal, their hair was blowing about in the wind. They ran to Asgore's side, and held, terrified onto his leg.

A strange voice emanated from the machine. 'HANDS UP DON'T MOVE I SAID DON'T MOVE WE WILL USE FORCE.'

Canisters dropped from the air, gas quickly escaping from them. The monsters screamed and scattered. Bright flashes, and loud noises came from the furthermost helicopters and bullets hit the ground around the area. Asgore covered his mouth, the white gas clouding about him. He felt a weight against his leg, Frisk had fallen unconcious at his side. He scoped them into his arms .

'THAT WAS A WARNING SHOT.' The voice said again 'TRY TO LEAVE AND WE WILL SHOOT.'

There was a wild shout from below, moving down the mountain. A figure leaned out from above, a shot was fired.

Asgore could hear the sound of monsters dropping to the ground. He swayed on his feet.

Sans stepped in front of Toriel, his gaster blasters appearing either side of him.

'No!' Toriel said in panic, she took his raised hand from behind and lowered it. The skeletal weapons faded away.

He looked back at her, worry etched on his face and then he was gone.

Toriel gasped, Sans had disappeared out of thin air. She was growing very tired. She looked around her desperately, 'Sa-Sans... where did..?'

Just before she fell to the ground, there he was again, arms wrapped around three others, Undyne, Alphys and Papyrus. One by one, they all dropped. Sans was the last.

As he fought the overwhelming urge to sleep Sans could hear Papyrus' voice in his mind, something he said not long ago that had disturbed him, now, after meeting Flowey, he knew the significance 'THAT ECHO FLOWER, IT SAID SOMETHING, strange... it said "They killed her but they went back because they felt bad about it..." Sans, what do you think it means?'


End file.
